


New friends, new bonds

by Meii_Jasmine



Series: Smash Bros oneshot collection [3]
Category: Splatoon, Super Smash Brothers, Wii Fit (Video Game), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Pining, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 04:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19099921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meii_Jasmine/pseuds/Meii_Jasmine
Summary: Richter goes off to apologize to the Inklings for giving their leader his grandpa's phone number by mistake, and Simon enrolls himself to the Wii Fit gym. Both Belmonts find new friends! But Richter seems to be completely oblivious that his new friend actually has a crush on him...





	New friends, new bonds

**New friends, new bonds**

 

"Hey, grandpa, where are you going?"

 

"Oh."

 

Richter saw Simon fixing himself in front of a mirror, with a sports bag in hand. He twisted his core from left to right, as if to give himself a bit of a warmup stretch.

 

"I'm going to the Wii Fit gym. I happened to walk by there the other day, and I decided to sign up." he stretched his arms and let out a deep sigh. "A vampire hunter needs to keep himself well-toned and healthy."

 

"Oh, that's nice! Tell me how it works out!" Richter said.

 

"How about you? Where are you going, grandson?"

 

"Oh, uh... um..." Richter bit his lip and squinted his eyes a bit, avoiding eye contact. "Remember someone made a prank call on you?"

 

"Yes...? That wouldn't have been one of your tricks, would it, Richter?"

 

Richter laughed nervously and then twiddled his fingers, as he often did when he was anxious about something.

 

"It wasn't, but uh... you see, I gave my number to a girl and I accidentally gave yours." Richter explained.

 

"Why would you mistake your grandfather's number for your own. And gave it to a girl, no less."

 

"I know! I'm sorry!" Richter clasped his hands together in apology.

 

"It's okay. Are you going to take this girl out to a date?" Simon raised a brow at him.

 

"N-No! Uh! I'm not ready for a relationship again. Besides, she's too young for me, Grandpa! I think she looks like Maria's age..."

 

Richter remembered how unprepared he was for his past relationship... he was thankful it ended civilly, but he didn't want to go through anything of the sort anytime soon. Having a time out in this Smash Village actually felt like a refreshing retreat for him, and he planned to take his time with friendships and relationships in general.

 

"I'm going over to apologize to her for that awkward situation." Richter said, and then he pulled out something from a nearby drawer. He seemed to have taken out a crudely-made papier mache blue heart with the words, "I'm sorry" on it. "I made this as a peace offering! Alucard helped me make it. Uh... do you think it's alright?"

 

"Aww." Simon chuckled. "Well, it came from your heart. Do whatever you think is best, grandson. You're older now."

 

"Thanks... wish me luck!"

 

Simon nodded at this and then he went off to the garage. Minutes later, he drove off for his first day at the gym, and Richter saw him drive off. He sighed to himself, thinking if the Inklings were offended with him giving his grandfather's number like that. He should have asked for her number instead, just to be sure.

 

He looked down at the blue heart he had made and took another deep sigh. He was going to do this.

 

He found that the Inklings lived a little farther than Ken's house, just near the skate park of the village. He was going to do this alone, since Alucard was off to do his daily flight exercises to keep fit. He started walking away from their household, made sure all doors were locked, and went off to the Inklings' residence, which was roughly a ten-minute walk.

 

He tried not to be too anxious about it. "Maybe they forgot about it", he thought. "Maybe they're not so angry", he thought again. "But then again, what if they didn't??", his mind went wild, but he tried to keep himself composed until he got there and apologized to... to...

 

Oh geez. What was her name again?

 

... Kira? No, that was from an anime he was binge watching with Alucard. Carol? Who's Carol? Karen?? Where are all these names coming from?? Oh no. He was walking closer to the house, only about five minutes away from this point, and forgetting her name made him feel even guiltier. Even when he looked at the full roster of fighters, all he saw was "Inkling", since they're more recognized as a team than just an individual fighter.

 

...

 

Well, there he was, in front of the doorstep to the Inkling household. It seemed a little bigger than their house, given it was housed by eight people as opposed to having two Belmonts and a bat in their own household. As he stood by the porch, he noticed the walls were all splattered with ink. It seemed to be slowly dissipating in front of his eyes, though; he didn't know if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

 

In his tension, he forgot to ring the doorbell. Well, he took care of that.

 

Within seconds of hearing the doorbell, he heard a splat on the window, which surprised him. He saw a boy Inkling with blue tentacles, just firmly splatted against the window surface, just staring at him with a smile. That alone made him re-evaluate his decision to come in the first place. He heard a chaotic waltz of footsteps inside, and held the papier mache heart behind his back for an element of surprise to... to... oh, that's right! Her name was Cara!

 

He remembered because he thought of how his grandfather was doing, and his train of thought led him to remember his grandfather talking about different kinds of fruit with Alucard on the dining table. He didn't think there were different kinds of oranges?? He just thought they were oranges. That's that.

 

But both of them knew different kinds of oranges; Simon said he's tried mandarin before, but wanted to try cara cara oranges if they were any better for his lifestyle.

 

Yep, that was her name. Cara.

 

The door opened to reveal an orange Inkling just standing by the doorstep. As soon as she saw Richter, she slammed the door back shut before he could say a word. He felt miserable. Maybe they do hate him...

 

He stood for a little while, trying to make up his mind if he should just leave without a word and leave the heart on the porch... but... no. What is a man?? DEFINITELY NOT a miserable little pile of secrets! If he had something in his heart, he had to speak it out, whether or not they'd respond to it. At least he did everything he could, right?

 

He took a deep breath, hoping to apologize in front of the doorstep if someone was still listening. But then, that was when the door flew open again.

 

"H-Hello, what can I do for you?" said the orange Inkling, sounding a little nervous herself.

 

"Oh! Uh... uhm! I just wanted to drop by and say..." Richter gulped. "I-I'm sorry for the other day."

 

"Huh?"

 

"I uh, gave you my grandpa's number instead of mine. I swear it was an accident." Richter bit his lip, and went on with his apology.

 

 

But in Cara's view, all she could see was him sparkling against the morning light. His eyes... his cute sapphire almond eyes shone brightly, and his beautiful eyelashes were slightly curled naturally. His strong jawline... wow, he could slay someone with that. His muscles?? Burgers had no say as to how beefy they were.

 

She found him so attractive that she wasn't able to focus on why Richter was visiting them in the first place. All she knew was the next moment, he showed the papier mache heart with the word "I'm sorry" on it.

 

"I made this last night before I thought of coming here. I... I thought it was only right I made a peace offering!" Richter smiled at her. "Will you ever forgive me?"

 

"..." Cara was speechless as she slowly reached out her hands and took the gift in her hands.

 

WE BRUSHED HANDS, she thought, and immediately felt a jolt up her body that made her feel so happy. She had been crushing on him for a while now, and they've even messaged each other a few times before Richter followed her back. And now, they're actually standing in front of each other!!

 

"O-Of course! Actually I kind of forgot about that already!" Cara said, trying not to stutter. "D-Do you want to come in o-our h-humble abode? Uhm! We uh... we have uh... we have... ice cream! Yeah!"

 

"Ice cream? That sounds nice!" Richter accepted her offer and stepped inside as soon as she led him in.

 

She gently laid the heart down on one of the drawers, as Richter observed the house while he tagged along the orange Inkling. He saw that the other Inklings were just chilling with their video games on the tv, or were busy fiddling with their phone. He yelped upon suddenly seeing an Inkling stand in front of him without his knowledge, though.

 

It was the same blue Inkling from earlier. He was smiling up at him. Just... smiling up at him.

 

"Uh... hello!" Richter began. Oh, this house felt like it was full of Marias. How do these young kids take care of themselves, he thought. He never really took the time to ask how old they were and assumed based on how young they looked.

 

"Hi! My name is Blu." said the blue Inkling.

 

"Hi, Blu! I'm Richter. Richter Belmont! But I'm sure you already knew from that in the acquaintance party from before." he smiled.

 

"Can I touch your..."

 

"?" Richter knew his muscles were ripped, so he crouched down for Blue to be able to touch his arms. However, Blue went straight for his pecs and laid each of his hands on them, looking very awed. Richter was surprised, but he tried not to react.

 

"Wow! They ARE real!" Blu couldn't help but exclaim as he patted them. "Richter, do you think I can get them too one day?"

 

"One day, yeah!" Richter smiled, but slowly slid Blu's hands off his pecs. "If you train and work hard everyday, you can get these muscles! But honestly these days I've been playing more video games than work out..."

 

"WOW..." said Blu, attempting to touch his pecs again, but Richter guarded himself.

 

Cara came back in the living room where they were, and offered him some scoops of ice cream on a bowl. She seemed to be grinning a lot as she just handed it over to him so he can eat. She sat him on a sofa, and she sat beside him herself.

 

"So uh... so um... are you going after this?" asked Cara. She seemed to be a little horrible thinking of a conversation.

 

"Oh... did you want me to?" Richter looked a little sad.

 

"NO!" she immediately reacted, even the other Inklings who were playing it cool were surprised. Even Richter was surprised. "W-What I mean is, I mean, you just made your way here just to apologize and I thought you were going to have the rest of the day busy with something else..."

 

"Oh." Richter took a spoonful of ice cream and indulged himself with it. Cara just stared at him dreamily. "Well! This big vampire hunter's gonna have to work out sometime! Maybe..."

 

Cara couldn't say anything else but just stare at him as she leaned against the couch. The other Inklings couldn't help but giggle, seeing her all lovestruck like this.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, at the Wii Fit gym...

 

Simon had just made his way into the gym, wearing some clothes more fit for yoga and some various exercises. He wore tightfit shorts and a body-hugging shirt saying "best grandpa". It must have been Richter's gift to him at some point in the past, and he seems to have taken a liking to it.

 

He walked into the room where he was to have his training with his instructor.

 

"Hey, it's nice to meet you." said the male trainer as he shook the vampire hunter's hand. He examined him from head to toe. "... Are you sure you still need to train under me??"

 

The trainer smiled as he saw Simon's physique. It was far bulkier and even more well-toned than his, but Simon insisted.

 

"Of course." Simon nodded. "I needed some sort of recreational activity for myself, so I figured... yoga and working out in a gym is just what I needed."

 

"Now that's a healthy mindset." the trainer winked at him. "Well, today we will be doing mostly yoga. But we can also do some treadmill exercises later if you want, while chatting."

 

"Sounds lovely." Simon nodded at this, and after a few preparations, they started their yoga sessions.

 

The Wii Fit trainer noticed that he was having some difficulty balancing on one of his feet for "the tree" yoga position, so he went over to help him keep his balance straight. He helped him straighten his spine and align his other body parts for a better balance.

 

"There. Focus on stretching your spine." said the trainer as he slowly let go of the vampire hunter.

 

"..." Simon tried his hardest to focus. If he could kill monsters, he could achieve this yoga position flawlessly, he thought.

 

They tried some other yoga positions. They tried the warrior pose, and even "salute the sun", and they even tried to do a half split together. The trainer can do a full split no problem, but Simon seemed to have some difficulty doing it so he was allowed to do a half split until he gained more flexibility over the days.

 

"So, Simon, you're a grandpa?" asked the Wii Fit trainer while they were doing the pike position on the floor, side by side.

 

"Yeah."

 

"Oh! That's cool. So where's your grandson now?"

 

"Well, he's out somewhere making new friends." said Simon. "He also made it to the Smash events, so we're living together somewhere in the village."

 

"That is so wholesome. I'm looking forward to meeting you in a match someday, then." said the trainer, as he shifted his position to a seated straddle. He reached out for his toes to stretch his body further.

 

"Looking forward to seeing you too." Simon replied, as he did the same position as well.

 

After stretching out enough, they decided they would spend some time on the treadmill after a small break. The trainer thought that the vampire hunter needed to improve his cardio a little, if he was going on matches too outside of hunting monsters and vampires.

 

***

 

"You know, you remind me of a really dear friend I have at home."

 

"R-Really??"

 

Richter nodded at this, to which Cara's eyes just glimmered at. They were still on the couch, while all the other Inklings were busy playing video games... it seemed to be a different game other than the virtual training he and Alucard had been playing.

 

"Yeah! I have this friend who loves animals, and she's pretty strong! Actually, I think she's around the same age as you..." said Richter, as he thought about it. He was thinking about his dear friend Maria, who was around 14 at the time. He thought it charming, finding a new friend that reminded him of her.

 

"Wow... that is so cool." Cara replied, thinking this a form of flattery to her. She thought, if she reminded him of someone really close to him... she must have been pretty special! Little did she know that he currently sees her as a little sister more than anything...

 

She was actually older than she looked, though she was regarded as a baby-faced young adult by some people, including the team she works with. It doesn't help that she was petit either, so despite being 18 years old, she looked younger than her younger peers.

 

It was how she acted that defined her age though, but Richter didn't seem to notice this much since he just assumed she was as old as Maria was. So he decided he'd treat her the way he did when he first met Maria... baby-talked her for a while despite being a fellow fighter.

 

"Oh, what game is that?" asked Richter as he caught eye of the game the Inklings were playing.

 

"That's our game, Splatoon!" Cara replied. "Did you want to try it?"

 

"Yeah, it looks fun!"

 

"You can even design your own character and play as them!"

 

As soon as the current round was over, the other Inklings handed over the controller to him so that they could teach him how to play. However, they knew that this was the perfect opportunity for Cara to "get to know" Richter... so they backed off for a bit.

 

"So this is used to jump... and this is used to aim! Then, see, you move the controller around to pan your surroundings and get a good shot! And if you ink enough ground, or walls... you can turn into a squid and travel through it! It makes you quicker." said Cara as she instructed Richter, who held the controller. "The aim of the standard mode is to be able to ink up the ground more than the opposing team!"

 

"Oh!! Oh, so THIS is what you call a 'Turf War'!" said Richter, finally getting struck with realization.

 

"YES! Yes, this is exactly it! Squid kids like us... and octo kids... love doing it as our past time! Some do it as a career." nodded Cara.

 

Richter then started playing with their video game, and often got splatted away by the enemy team. He wasn't any good at this, but he laughed every time he fell or got splatted, saying he was really horrible. The Inklings cheered him on, feeling happy that a human would take interest in their culture, let alone play with them! Cara could only watch him with a stupid grin on her face. The whole world seemed to stop for a while for her everytime he smiled, let alone laugh...

 

And then finally, the round was over... the opposing team won by a wide margin and Richter felt bad for his teammates.

 

"Wow!! Turf wars are so fun!" Richter plopped against the sofa, limp in tension. Both of his hands were splayed on the seats.

 

Cara looked down at them and thought it a good opportunity... to slowly reach out and touch one of them...

 

... but Richter sat upright and held the controller with both hands again.

 

"Okay! Another round! This time I'll get them!" said Richter, with a blazing determination in his eyes.

 

***

 

"So are you free this Saturday?" asked the Wii Fit trainer.

 

Meanwhile, in the Wii Fit gym... the yoga sessions were already over and Simon and his trainer were both running on the treadmill for small cardio sessions.

 

"Well, I guess? What did you have in mind?" asked Simon as he looked at his trainer.

 

"I was thinking of jogging around the village, if you were interested. After that, I'll be stopping over a fastfood restaurant that just opened this week!" said the trainer.

 

"Fastfood?"

 

"Well, I do it sometimes. Just... sometimes. The only thing I have to be wary about is the proportions I eat them in. To keep fit, I shouldn't eat too much." said the trainer.

 

"I see. That sounds good, I guess. I don't have anything much to do this Saturday."

 

They continued exercising on the treadmill for a few more minutes, chatting up about their personal lives. It seems that the trainer had been in this line of work for at least ten years and counting, along with his colleague. Together, they had seen countless people who started leading healthy lifestyles under their guidance, but of course there were some who weren't actually dedicated to it.

 

Simon shared a bit about himself too; about vampire hunting, and about how he's living with his grandson and the son of Dracula himself, Alucard. He explained that Alucard was a good person despite everything, and that they were all living comfortably under the same roof. He was just a little worried about what Dracula would do, knowing that his son was living with the Belmonts...

 

They found it interesting learning a little more about each other, feeling as if they had met each other for a long time despite it being only a few hours. Simon looked forward to meeting some more people who understood his interests, seeing as he had quite the age gap with the grandson and the damphyr.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, Richter was able to win at least one turf war against the opposing team in the video game... finally. This was after match after match, for about an hour or two. They all cheered for him, finally claiming victory despite being new to the game!

 

"I knew you'd do it!" Cara cheered on.

 

"Thanks!! YES!! YO MAMA!!!!!" Richter cheered himself and then laid the controller on the couch, while laughing. "That was so fun! I can't believe you guys do this everyday back at your home!"

 

"Yes!! It's so cool, isn't it?" Cara smiled.

 

"True!"

 

Having spent a few hours with the Inklings, he noticed that it was already late in the afternoon. He wanted to get back home and see if Alucard was home from his flight around the village, and make sure everything in the house was in order before his grandfather came home from his yoga sessions.

 

They all led him to the doorstep, and as soon as he made it to the porch, he said his final goodbyes to them for the day.

 

"It was really fun hanging out with you all." smiled Richter. "Maybe we can play again some other time!"

 

"It would be awesome!" said Blu. "I'll prepare a training regimen and show it to you!"

 

"Awesome, little dude! I'll check it out and we'll try doing it together." Richter winked at him and gave him finger guns.

 

"Next time we'll try a hands-on turf war." said Lili, the purple schoolgirl Inkling. "I'm sure Cara-senpai would be more than happy to accommodate you."

 

"I'd love that!!" Richter smiled at them brightly, to which Cara's heart just literally stopped for a moment at.

 

They bade their final farewells to each other, and upon closing the door when Richter was out of sight walking down the sidewalks... Cara sighed and dashed to the blue heart he had made for her, then hugged it. She hoped nobody saw this... the last thing she wanted was for them to find out he had a crush.

 

... Little did she know the Inklings already knew her secret. She was too obvious. But to help ease her, they pretended not to know anything and just played it cool.

 

As soon as Richter got home, he found that Alucard was already resting by the couch, helping himself to some potato chips left over from the night before. When he saw his friend come in, he offered some potato chips and asked him how everything went.

 

"Well, she told me she even forgot that I sent her the wrong number..." Richter explained.

 

"See? I told you." Alucard patted his back. "But that was really nice of you, Richter. This is why I love you."

 

"Thanks, man. Love you too, my bro!" Richter patted his back too, and began eating his potato chips.

 

Simon arrived not too long since Richter came home, and came home wearing his workout getup. The two smiled, seeing that he seemed to have a good time out in the gym. Good for him too, he needed to find some other people to talk to, so he can relieve his senses with change of scenery.

 

"Well, this Saturday I got a date." said Simon with a chuckle.

 

Richter looked shocked. "A... A DATE?? Grandpa, who-"

 

"Nah, it's just a friend uh... hangout, as you call it." Simon tried to find better contemporary words so his grandson would understand. "My trainer invited me for a morning jog and breakfast this Saturday. He said you could come, Richter."

 

"I dunno, gramps, I wanna sleep this weekend off... but I'll see about it!"

 

Simon then went back into the kitchen after resting up a bit, so that he could prepare their supper soon. Richter wanted to have the wall meat already, but Simon told him to wait since it'll be available from curing in a few days for best taste. Alucard was still perplexed by their taste, but decided to to bring it up again.

 

Later on, they had a hearty dinner together to end the day before they each attended to their own hobbies. Richter and Alucard played a few video games together before bedtime, and Simon attended to his puzzle books to exercise his brain a little, rather than rot it with video games like his grandson did.

 

Richter promised he'd spend the next day meeting Dark Pit and a new friend over in the skate park. Simon volunteered to come with them, and refused to not join. It seemed as if he really wanted to see this new friend that Richter would meet, so the younger Belmont really didn't have a say in it.

**Author's Note:**

> Guess I should make it clear, and reiterate, that Cara (orange Inkling girl) is 18 in this fic!
> 
> I made her my inksona here, so the baby-faced adult idea and all the struggles that come with it is actually kind of derived from my own personal experience. Also... Richter stan culture... I love him so much, so I guess this one-way attraction is one way of projecting my own too! Hahaha...... haha ^///^;;
> 
> But what about Alucard, though...? Is he hinting at something as well... or??
> 
> Also I always thought Simon and Wii Fit trainer training together was pretty wholesome; I kinda thought they'd get along being health buffs.


End file.
